Harrison Smith - Safety - Notre Dame

[SeanBruschi54]

Hands down my number one safety on my board.

The kid just murders people. Great tackler, very good hands while the ball is in the air, makes interceptions. Good in coverage.

Give me this bro all day

 

[borg]

Senior Bowl: Harrison Smith turning some heads at Senior Bowl - chicagotribune.com

 

[Snake Eyes]

Hands down my number one safety on my board.

The kid just murders people. Great tackler, very good hands while the ball is in the air, makes interceptions. Good in coverage.

Give me this bro all day

Seriously man, do you REALLY think I need yet another binkie? I’m losing sleep trying to think of ways to get everyone I want, now I need to add this guy in the mix. We’re going to need safeties capable of coving all the menacing TEs that will soon be flooding the league, and we need help at safety.

I want him!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Seriously man, do you REALLY think I need yet another binkie? I’m losing sleep trying to think of ways to get everyone I want, now I need to add this guy in the mix. We’re going to need safeties capable of coving all the menacing TEs that will soon be flooding the league, and we need help at safety.

I want him!

Remember: you don't pick binkies. Binkies pick you.

[HT: ayjackson]

 

[patsfaninpa]

He's getting a lot of good pub. I'll confess. I'm a ND hater. I usually watch and hope theylose. But, they've been pretty irrelevant lately and haven't even watched them much the last few years. Plus, NBC ignores the rest of the country and it's a 4hr info-mercial when they do the games. I'll have to get on youtube and check some highlights out. A tall rangy kid who can play the ball is what the doctor prescribed for this defense. If he's a good tackler. That's a plus.

 

[Off The Grid]

Harrison Smith??

Interesting Prospect.

Below average hip flexibility, though.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Harrison Smith??

Interesting Prospect.

Below average hip flexibility, though.

YES! We like our diamonds rough.

 

[Gronkandez]

George Iloka - College Player - 2012 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

Don't the Pats need more of a free safety like this guy?

According to SI.com draft analyst Tony Pauline, Boise State S George Iloka is currently "the top free safety on draft boards around the league."

Alabama's Mark Barron and Notre Dame's Harrison Smith are considered strong safeties. Iloka is an imposing free safety prospect at 6-foot-4, 222 with a sub-4.5 forty on record. Pauline expects Iloka to be an early second-round pick if he runs well and does 25 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, as expected. Iloka could be a tight end-buster kind of safety with the ability to defend athletic TEs like Jimmy Graham and Aaron Hernandez. Feb 22 - 1:53 PM

 

[borg]

George Iloka - College Player - 2012 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

Don't the Pats need more of a free safety like this guy?

According to SI.com draft analyst Tony Pauline, Boise State S George Iloka is currently "the top free safety on draft boards around the league."

Alabama's Mark Barron and Notre Dame's Harrison Smith are considered strong safeties. Iloka is an imposing free safety prospect at 6-foot-4, 222 with a sub-4.5 forty on record. Pauline expects Iloka to be an early second-round pick if he runs well and does 25 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, as expected. Iloka could be a tight end-buster kind of safety with the ability to defend athletic TEs like Jimmy Graham and Aaron Hernandez. Feb 22 - 1:53 PM

PFW on Iloka:
Upside:
• Athletic, flexible hips
• Quick feet
• Plays fast
• Shadows receivers
• Covers lots of ground
• Good leaping ability
• Drops downhill quickly and closes fast

Downside:
• Soft temperament
• Struggles to break down, tackle in space
• Leaves his feet and dives at ballcarriers
• Average production on the ball
• Can refine footwork in coverage

The Way We See It:
Lean, narrow-framed, long-levered FS prospect with intriguing play speed, movement skills, range and athletic ability (38-inch vertical leap). However, his tape leaves something to be desired and his inconsistent tackling is worrisome.

 

[Gronkandez]

GEORGE ILOKA SS, Boise State
2011 GRADE: 6.8 HT: 6-3 WT: 216 Overall rank:50

Impression: Iloka is a tall kid with solid balance for his size and has some natural athleticism and pop. Has experience playing corner and being a physical press coverage man. However, he isn't a guy who can quickly re-direct and close on the football in the deep half. He needs to play with his hands on defenders, but is a more coordinated bigger safety than say Seahawks starter Kam Chancellor and he could start at the next level


George Iloka


HARRISON SMITH SS, Notre Dame
2011 GRADE: 6.4 T HT: 6-2 WT: 214 Overall Rank: 79
Impression: Isn't a guy you want to trust to run with receivers down the field. However, because of his solid natural range and instincts, I can see him getting over the top and making plays in a center field type role as an NFL strong safety

Harrison Smith

Harrison seems to have better instincts and tackling ability. I would say BB values both of those attributes.

 

[UK_Pat37]

I'm a Markell Martin fan personally...we need a free safety. We have Chung and Ihedigbo who could play Strong Safety..if we resign Ihedigbo of course.

He's got raw athleticism and think he has some of the better cover skills out of all the safeties in the draft. I think he can be too aggressive at times, but I'm a massive fan of his.

 

[VrabelJr]

I like Markelle Martin as well. He seemed to make big plays and played in a conference where teams at least throw the ball.

We already have one Safety from Notre Dame on our team... Sergio Brown

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I'm a Markell Martin fan personally...we need a free safety. We have Chung and Ihedigbo who could play Strong Safety..if we resign Ihedigbo of course.

He's got raw athleticism and think he has some of the better cover skills out of all the safeties in the draft. I think he can be too aggressive at times, but I'm a massive fan of his.

I thought Ivebeenaho really improved from the start of the season to the end of the season. I feel confident that if we resign him, he could be a decent backup to Chung.

The FS position on the other hand is a mess. I thought Lester was the best FS in college last year, but he did not come out. I currently have Martin ranked higher than Iloka because I think Martin has better change of direction and is a tad faster. The rankings could change depending on combine results.

 

[manxman2601]

I thought Ivebeenaho really improved from the start of the season to the end of the season. I feel confident that if we resign him, he could be a decent backup to Chung.

The FS position on the other hand is a mess. I thought Lester was the best FS in college last year, but he did not come out. I currently have Martin ranked higher than Iloka because I think Martin has better change of direction and is a tad faster. The rankings could change depending on combine results.

Here's a name that is barely getting a mention: Philip Thomas of Syracuse. Mike Mayock has him as the fifth rated safety and Shane Hallam of DraftCountdown went on twitter said he liked him, giving him a 3-4 round grade. Hard to find much on him because he was a late entrant to the draft but here a vid. He's #1

Phillip Thomas vs West Virginia - YouTube

One word of caution, he entered the draft because he received a one year suspension from Syracuse. Nothing concrete on the reason why.

 

[Gronkandez]

I think the Pats need to make sure they get a FA safety (no, not Merriweather.) If they only get a rookie to fill this position the guy won't be up to speed on his responsibilities until 2015 and I don't want to wait that long.

They should then supplement the position with a 3rd or 4th round project, IMO.

 

[rdf63]

GEORGE ILOKA SS, Boise State
2011 GRADE: 6.8 HT: 6-3 WT: 216 Overall rank:50

Impression: Iloka is a tall kid with solid balance for his size and has some natural athleticism and pop. Has experience playing corner and being a physical press coverage man. However, he isn't a guy who can quickly re-direct and close on the football in the deep half. He needs to play with his hands on defenders, but is a more coordinated bigger safety than say Seahawks starter Kam Chancellor and he could start at the next level


George Iloka


HARRISON SMITH SS, Notre Dame
2011 GRADE: 6.4 T HT: 6-2 WT: 214 Overall Rank: 79
Impression: Isn't a guy you want to trust to run with receivers down the field. However, because of his solid natural range and instincts, I can see him getting over the top and making plays in a center field type role as an NFL strong safety

Harrison Smith

Harrison seems to have better instincts and tackling ability. I would say BB values both of those attributes.

Excellent information! Iloka and Smith could be very interesting picks to consider for the Pats. Iloka is a converted cb playing safety and could the Pats consider drafting Smith in the 2nd and Iloka in the 3rd and use Iloka as both a cb and safety?

 

[Gronkandez]

joe (charleston)


any chance ND safety harrison smith sneaks into the 1st round?

Mel Kiper (1:47 PM)

I've been thinking he's a first rounder since Feb. 14 with my Mock 2.0. He's the No. 2 safety in the draft behind Mark Barron. He'll be attractive to a lot of teams in the first round. I have him going to Green Bay. But if he does slip, there's no way he slips past No. 40.

Chat: Chat with Mel Kiper - SportsNation - ESPN

 

[VrabelJr]

I feel like Mark Barron is a prospect that all of these draft experts are going to be incredibly wrong about come draft day. I picture Barron sliding fast.

 

[UK_Pat37]

I feel like Mark Barron is a prospect that all of these draft experts are going to be incredibly wrong about come draft day. I picture Barron sliding fast.

I'm far from a Barron fan myself...unfortunately people may reach for him. I think the whole strong safety class has coverage issues man to man although Harrison Smith was immense in drills at the combine and he will have helped himself.

Harrison Smith may have propelled himself into the first round just about in my eyes with good hip and footwork in his combine workouts. If he impresses even more at pro day and in interviews he will rise further.

I think Barron is overrated, especially in coverage.

 

[midwestpatsfan]

I will be the first to admit, I have not done a ton of work on the safeties yet, but I just finished up watching some of the combine and saw smith in some of the drills and really liked what I saw. I thought he was extremely smooth in his backpedal and kept his arms close to his body meaning he maintains good balance and control while not losing his acceleration through his break. I thought Iloka was much stiffer in his drills. Again, I want to preface that I have not watched much film on either of them yet, but my first impression is that Smith showed at the combine the skillset to play FS, even though I do not think there is such a thing as FS and SS anymore. With the game evolving the way it is, you cannot have one dimensional guys at either safety position.